Vitalina Varela

Vitalina Varela (2019), directed by Pedro Costa, is a Portuguese drama you can watch online on iFILM. The lead is played by Vitalina Varela herself — a Cape Verdean woman recounting her own life on screen.

For twenty-five years she waited at home while her husband lived a separate life in Lisbon. She arrives after his death. What she finds — a cramped immigrant neighbourhood, a house falling apart, neighbours who barely knew his name — is a slow, careful reckoning with loss. Costa shot the film in near-total darkness in the Fontainhas district, and it took home the Golden Leopard at Locarno 2019. Stream Vitalina Varela online on iFILM.